I am very happy to annouce that I managed to read 41 of a 40 book challenge in 2016. As usual my list included quite alot of romance, but I can assure you it wasn’t from lack of trying to find other interesting books. There were several that I attempted that just did not peak any interest.
Justin Cronin’s, The Passage, for instance, I decided I just could not bear to finish. That’s saying something. If I give an author over 500 pages to conclude a plot in the first book of a trilogy and they still can not figure out where they are going with it, well, I have to start questioning the editor and publisher that picked it for public consumption. It was an intense book and then a little over half way through it just came to a dead stop and switched gears. The change in plot and characters was so abrupt that it felt like starting a new book. The only joy I took from discovering it was reading some of the reviews on Goodreads. I was not alone in my opinion. But yeah. It wasn’t all fun in literary land last year.
Without further ado here is my book list from 2016 (red highlights indicate excellent reads):
1. Smoldering Hunger, Donna Grant – paranormal romance
2. Moonlight Masquerade, Jude Deveraux – contemporary romance
3. The Eye of the World (EotW #1), Robert Jordan – epic fantasy
4. Morning Star, Pierce Brown – YA SciFi
5. The Great Hunt (EotW #2), Robert Jordan – epic fantasy
6. Ready Player One, Ernest Cline – SciFi
7. Dark Alpha’s Embrace, Donna Grant – paranormal romance
8. The Dragon Reborn (EotW #3), Robert Jordan – epic fantasy
9. Falling Into Bed With a Duke, Lorraine Heath – historical romance
10. The Midwife’s Apprentice, Karen Cushman – juvenile fiction/classic
11. Smoke & Fire, Donna Grant – paranormal romance
12. And Invitation to Sin, Suzanne Enoch – historical romance
13. Something Sinful, Suzanne Enoch – historical romance
14. Sins of a Duke, Suzanne Enoch – historical romance
15. An Affair to Remember, Karen Hawkins – historical romance
16. The New Shade Garden, Ken Druse – non-fiction, gardening
17. Nightfall, Jake Halpern – YA horror/fantasy
18. Wolf Hollow, Lauren Wolk – YA fiction
19. Strawberry Girl, Lois Lenski – juvenile fiction/classic
20. The Passage, Justin Cronin – fantasy/dystopian – DID NOT FINISH
21. Outrun the Moon, Stacey Lee – YA fiction/historical
22. Confessions of a Scoundrel, Karen Hawkins – historical romance
23. All the Right Places, Jenna Sutton – contemporary romance
24. Little Black Dress (bookshots), James Patterson – fiction
25. Cross Kill (bookshots), James Patterson – fiction
26. Chase (bookshots), James Patterson – fiction
27. ZOO, James Patterson – fiction
28. ZOO 2 (bookshots), James Patterson – fiction
29. Perfect, Judith McNaught – contemporary romance
30. Hogwarts: A Complete and Unreliable Guide (Pottermore #3), J.K. Rowling – YA fantasty
31. Ten Dollar Dinners, Melissa d’Arabian – non-fiction/cookbook
32. Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies (Pottermore #1), J.K. Rowling – YA fantasy
33. Short Stories from Hogwarts of Power, Politics and Pesky Poltergeists (Pottermore #2), J.K. Rowling – YA fantasy
34. The Secret of the Old Clock, Carolyn Keene – juvenile mystery
35. How to Treat a Lady, Karen Hawkins – historical romance
36. Lady in Red, Karen Hawkins – historical romance
37. Just One Damn Thing After Another, Jodi Taylor – YA fiction/fantasy
38. And the Bride Wore Plaid, Karen Hawkins – historical romance
39. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Barbara Kingsolver – non-fiction – DID NOT FINISH
40. Blood Lance, Jeri Westerson – historical mystery
41. Only Time Will Tell (The Clifton Chronicles #1), Jeffery Archer – fiction historical
While I didn’t make it through the entire Eye of the World series, I did manage to get to book #4 (where I’m currently stalled because epic fantasy can really become a grind sometimes). I’ll continue my slog through it, but won’t try to hold myself to finishing the whole series in one calendar year.
Read what you love!
The Little Red Thread 